Godzilla (2014)

The King of the Monsters? More Like the King of Hide and Seek.

Let’s start by showing y’all the trailer shall we?

Ohhhhh boy, where do I even begin with this one?

Hey everyone, welcome back to another review! Today we’re taking a trip back to 2014 to discuss the film that started Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, Godzilla.

Now before we get into this review, I wanna make something perfectly clear. I’ve never been what you’d call a die-hard Godzilla fan. I enjoy the character, I love watching giant monsters destroy cities, and I certainly appreciate a good monster movie.

But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna automatically love a movie just because Godzilla’s name is slapped on the poster.

And unfortunately, that’s one of my biggest problems with this film.

I remember the marketing for this movie making it look like we were about to get this terrifying, destructive Godzilla film, with Bryan Cranston seemingly playing a major role.

And considering Cranston had just finished playing Walter White in Breaking Bad, having him in a Godzilla movie sounded like a pretty damn good idea.

So imagine my disappointment when I actually watched the film.

Not only is Bryan Cranston barely in the damn thing, but Godzilla himself feels like a guest star in his own movie.

Seriously, how the hell do you make a movie called Godzilla and then spend so much of it avoiding showing us Godzilla!?

Anyways, enough of my ranting for now. Let’s get into the review.

Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

The film begins in 1999, when a mysterious disaster strikes a nuclear power plant in Japan. Fifteen years later, Ford Brody, a Navy explosive ordnance disposal officer, gets dragged into an investigation involving his father, who believes the original disaster was caused by something far more sinister than an earthquake.

And wouldn’t you know it, he’s correct.

Turns out humanity has unknowingly awakened ancient creatures known as MUTOs, or Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms, which feed on radiation.

Unfortunately for humanity, these things aren’t exactly interested in peacefully coexisting with us.

But don’t worry, because there’s another giant radioactive creature out there.

Godzilla.

So now the military is scrambling to figure out how to deal with these monsters before they cause even more destruction.

And that’s all I’ll say for the non-spoiler plot.

Character Rundown

Let’s start with Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ford Brody, our main character.

And I’m sorry, but Ford is one of the most forgettable protagonists I’ve seen in a monster movie.

Now don’t get me wrong, Taylor-Johnson isn’t a bad actor. The problem is that Ford is just so painfully bland.

He’s a soldier, he has a wife and kid, and he wants to get back home.

That’s essentially his entire personality.

And the movie expects us to spend most of its runtime following him around.

Oh joy.

Next is Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody, Ford’s father.

Now THIS is the character I actually wanted to follow.

Joe lost his wife during the nuclear plant disaster, and he’s spent the following fifteen years desperately trying to prove that the government has been covering something up.

Cranston absolutely sells the character’s grief, paranoia and desperation.

There’s an emotional weight to his performance that most of the other characters simply don’t have.

Which makes what the film does with him even more frustrating, but we’ll discuss that in spoilers.

Next is Elizabeth Olsen as Elle Brody, Ford’s wife.

And unfortunately, she’s another character who doesn’t have much to do.

She’s a nurse, she’s worried about her husband, and she’s trying to protect their son.

Olsen does what she can with the material, but the script gives her very little personality beyond being the concerned wife.

Then there’s Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishirō Serizawa, a scientist working for Monarch.

Now I actually liked this guy.

He’s one of the few characters who seems to understand that humanity might be completely out of its depth dealing with these creatures.

He also treats Godzilla with a sense of respect and awe, which I appreciated.

Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham plays Serizawa’s colleague, and unfortunately she doesn’t get much development either.

And finally, David Strathairn as Admiral William Stenz, the military commander overseeing the response.

He’s fine. He’s your typical military authority figure who believes the solution to giant monsters is to throw explosives at them.

Because apparently humanity’s response to everything is, have we tried blowing it up?

Pacing / Episode Flow

Oh boy.

This is where the film really starts falling apart for me.

The movie is approximately two hours and three minutes long, and yet it somehow feels significantly longer.

Now I’m not someone who believes a Godzilla movie needs to have monsters fighting every five minutes.

Heck, Godzilla Minus One spends plenty of time focusing on the human characters, and I loved that film.

But here’s the difference.

Minus One gave me human characters I actually cared about.

This movie gives me Ford Brody.

And I’m sorry, but watching Ford travel from one location to another isn’t exactly riveting entertainment.

The film also has this extremely annoying habit of building up to a Godzilla action sequence, only to cut away just as things are getting interesting.

Seriously, there’s a moment where Godzilla is about to fight one of the MUTOs, and what does the film do?

It cuts to people watching the fight on television.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

I paid to watch Godzilla fight giant monsters, not to watch people watching Godzilla fight giant monsters!

It’s like going to a boxing match, only for someone to close the curtains every time the fighters start throwing punches.

Thankfully, the final act actually delivers some impressive action.

But by that point, I was already frustrated with how much the movie had been holding back.

Pros

Now despite everything I’ve said, there are things I genuinely appreciate about this movie.

Firstly, Godzilla’s design is fantastic.

I love how enormous and heavy he looks. Every step feels like it carries actual weight, and the filmmakers do a great job showing just how insignificant humanity is compared to him.

The cinematography is another highlight.

Gareth Edwards clearly understands scale, and some of the shots in this film are absolutely gorgeous.

The HALO jump sequence, with soldiers descending through dark clouds toward a devastated San Francisco, is easily one of the best scenes in the entire movie.

I also really like the sound design.

Godzilla’s roar sounds absolutely terrifying, and the movie makes excellent use of silence and environmental noise to build tension.

The MUTOs are also pretty interesting creatures.

I like their insect-like appearances and the fact that they’re not simply evil monsters trying to destroy humanity for the fun of it.

They’re animals following their natural instincts.

Unfortunately, their natural instincts happen to involve destroying half the country.

Whoops.

And finally, Bryan Cranston.

He’s easily the strongest human performer in this movie, which makes his limited screen time all the more disappointing.

Cons

Where do I even start?

Firstly, the lack of Godzilla.

This is my biggest problem with the film.

Godzilla has relatively little screen time, and while I understand the filmmakers wanted to build suspense, there’s a difference between creating anticipation and deliberately withholding the main attraction.

The marketing made this look like a much more Godzilla-focused movie than what we actually got.

Secondly, the human characters are boring.

Outside of Joe Brody and Serizawa, I struggled to care about anyone.

Ford is especially disappointing as a protagonist.

Thirdly, the movie keeps cutting away from monster fights.

I understand wanting to save the biggest spectacle for the finale, but did we really need to repeatedly tease action and then refuse to show it?

Fourthly, the lighting.

Some of the monster action is so dark that it becomes difficult to appreciate what’s happening.

And finally, the film’s biggest mistake.

Bryan Cranston.

But we’ll get to that.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Godzilla (2014) is a movie that I think has some genuinely excellent filmmaking buried underneath some extremely frustrating creative decisions.

The atmosphere is fantastic, Godzilla looks incredible, and the final battle is entertaining.

But I can’t overlook how boring much of the human story is.

Nor can I overlook how misleading the marketing felt.

And I certainly can’t overlook the fact that the film wastes its most interesting actor.

It’s especially frustrating because I’ve seen what can happen when a Godzilla movie combines compelling human drama with terrifying monster action.

Godzilla Minus One proved that you can have both.

This movie, unfortunately, never quite finds that balance.

Would I recommend it?

Maybe if you’re interested in seeing where the MonsterVerse started.

But if you’re expecting two hours of Godzilla causing chaos, prepare to be disappointed.

Rating: 5/10

A visually impressive but frustratingly underwhelming introduction to the MonsterVerse.

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⚠️ SPOILER WARNING ⚠️

Alright folks, from this point onwards we’re discussing major spoilers, so if you haven’t watched the film yet, you’ve been warned.

Spoilers

Let’s start with the opening.

We see Joe Brody working at a nuclear power plant in Japan when something causes a catastrophic disaster.

His wife Sandra, played by Juliette Binoche, is trapped inside the facility while Joe desperately tries to save her.

Unfortunately, he’s forced to seal the doors to prevent the radiation from spreading.

And she dies.

Now this is genuinely a heartbreaking scene.

Cranston’s performance is fantastic, and you can see how completely devastated Joe is.

Fast-forward fifteen years, and he’s become obsessed with proving that the disaster wasn’t caused by an earthquake.

And guess what?

He was right!

The government has been studying a giant creature that feeds on radiation.

Eventually, Joe and Ford discover the truth, and the creature escapes containment.

Now you’d think this would be the beginning of Joe becoming a major character in the story.

NOPE!

He gets injured during the MUTO’s escape and dies shortly afterward.

WHAT!?

Seriously!?

You have Bryan freaking Cranston, one of the most talented actors in the film, and you kill him off before we even reach the halfway point!?

And then we’re stuck following his significantly less interesting son for the remainder of the movie.

I’m sorry, but this was a terrible decision.

Joe had a personal connection to the monsters, an interesting backstory, and a reason to be emotionally invested in the conspiracy.

Ford has a family he wants to get home to.

And that’s about it.

Anyways, eventually we discover there are two MUTOs, a male and a female, and they’re attempting to reproduce.

The military decides to lure them away using a nuclear warhead.

Because yes, apparently the solution to radiation-eating monsters is to give them more radiation.

Brilliant plan, guys.

Meanwhile, Godzilla emerges from the ocean and starts pursuing the creatures.

And this is where we get one of the most annoying moments in the film.

Godzilla arrives at the airport in Hawaii, and it looks like we’re finally going to see a proper monster battle.

He faces off against the male MUTO.

And then the movie cuts away.

We see the aftermath and bits of the fight through television footage.

Oh, come on!

Thankfully, the final battle in San Francisco is much better.

Godzilla fights both MUTOs, and for once the film actually lets us watch.

And I’ll give credit where it’s due, this sequence is fantastic.

The monsters feel enormous, the destruction is impressive, and Godzilla finally gets to show off what he’s capable of.

My favorite moment is when Godzilla kills the female MUTO by grabbing her jaws, forcing them open, and firing his atomic breath directly down her throat.

GOOD LORD!

Talk about a bad case of heartburn.

Godzilla then collapses from exhaustion, making everyone think he’s dead.

But don’t worry.

The following morning, he wakes up, gets back on his feet, and casually walks back into the ocean.

The news even starts calling him the King of the Monsters and humanity’s savior.

Which is pretty funny considering the amount of property damage this guy caused just by showing up.

Anyways, the film ends with Ford reunited with his family, and Godzilla returning to the sea.

And that’s it.

Honestly, I wish I liked this movie more than I do.

There’s a genuinely great Godzilla film hiding somewhere inside it.

Unfortunately, the filmmakers seemed more interested in keeping Godzilla offscreen than actually letting him be the star.

Anyways, that’s my review. Hope y’all enjoyed it!